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Tesla CEO Musk verifies Apple meeting; acquisition ‘unlikely’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed in a Bloomberg interview that his company did meet with Apple’s acquistions chief, but said a sale of Tesla was “unlikely.” A recent report noted Apple’s mergers and acquisitions chief Adrian Perica met with Musk. “We had conversations with Apple, I can’t comment on whether those revolved around any kind of acquisition,” Musk said. He said any acquisition of Tesla could distract the company from focusing on creating a compelling mass market electric car, which would make a sale unlikely.

Musk noted any scenario that would make it easier to produce such an electric car could make a Tesla acquisition possible, but he doesn’t foresee such a development. When asked what he would tell Apple if the Cupertino company wanted to make cars, Musk said, “I’d probably tell them that I think it’s a great idea.” Tesla recently confirmed plans for its battery “Gigafactory” — there’s speculation that Apple could partner with Tesla in the new battery plant. [via GigaOM]